A TEACHER from Blaenavon has signed up to join the army and will begin training in Sandhurst next month.

Victoria Reed, 28, joined the Territorial Army (TA) in 2009 as part of the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia) 100 Field Squadron.

After returning from an Operation Tour of Cyprus, Miss Reed trained to be a PE teacher at Cardiff Metropolitan University and graduated in 2012.

But now, she has decided to sign up to the army.

Miss Reed said: “I have a passion for teaching but I also loved my role in the TA as I have got to travel and meet great people.

“Since joining the TA I have gone through basic Army training as well as learning some specialist skills, so joining the Regular Army is something that I have been working towards.”

Her mind was made up after she gained employment in Dubai working at a private international school as a PE teacher in 2012, where she organised the school’s first ski trip, taking 60 pupils to Switzerland.

She said: “Dubai is such a wonderful place to live as there are so many places to go and things to do plus the weather is sunny every day.

“However, I longed for a career within the Regular Army, so being a teacher and having gained military experience I decided I wanted to join Education Training Services which would combine both passions of mine.”

Earlier this year, she attended interviews to join the Regular Army and having successfully passing main board, a mix of academic, physical, mental and aptitude tests, she will start training in Sandhurst in September.

Miss Reed is also a member of the Royal British Legion at the Blaenavon branch where she assists with the fundraising.

In her role she has attended repatriation services, assisted at services, door to door sales of poppies and recently assisted with the Second World War re-enactment at the Iron works.

She is also organising a fundraising event for the Royal British Legion, which will take place on November 29, 7.30pm until late, at the Rifleman's Arms, Blaenavon.

Since joining the TA, Miss Reed has completed a six month operational tour in Cyprus working for the UN where she helped out with the management of the welfare packages for soldiers and their families based there.

In August 2012, she also worked at the London Olympics with the Reserve Army assisting with the security at Earls Court where the volleyball took place.

“This was an amazing experience as the atmosphere was immense and we were able to watch many of the events”, she added.

In January, she participated in the National Army Telemark competition in Austria before returning back to Dubai and returned home to Blaenavon in June.

Her nan, Jan Reed, said: “The whole family is so proud of her and it’s great to see her achieving her dreams.”